Criminal Justice Career Statistics

A majority of criminal justice professionals work on the local and state level.

There are roughly 633,710 police and sherrif's patrol officers in the United States.

According to the most recent numbers, over 7.3 million people were on probation, in jail or prison, or on parole -- 3.2% of all U.S. adult residents or 1 in every 31 adults.

Over one-third of inmates held in custody at midyear 2008 were in local jails.

After sharp increases in the 1980s and 1990s, the incarceration rate has recently grown at a slower pace. According to the latest figures, incarceration in federal and state prisons has grown 0.8%, while incarceration in local jails has grown 0.7%.

Federal, state, and local governments invest approximately $173 billion into corrections, judicial, police, and legal activities.

There are currently about 861,000 police officers and detectives in the United States.

Local government spends more on criminal justice than the state and federal government.

There are over 958,520 employed in the justice and legal areas of criminal justice.